Two Circles acquires Spring Media to expand broadcast offering

Two Circles, the data-driven sports and entertainment business, has today announced the agreement to acquire Spring Media Group, adding new products and solutions to Two Circles’ already market-leading fan-marketing services.

Spring Media has delivered consistent, market-beating growth, more than doubling in scale over the last three years. This growth has been driven by an innovative approach to full-cycle media rights management, sales and delivery. Fusing production, streaming and media rights to drive underlying rights value. Once coupled with Two Circles’ existing expertise in audience growth, customer data management and direct-to-consumer monetisation, this combined business will have the unparalleled ability to help rights owners of all sizes grow the value they deliver from their fans.

There has never been a better time for a data-driven approach to engaging with fans, as Two Circles’ recent proprietary research has shown. Gen Z are now consuming 23% more hours of sports every week than Baby Boomers, with the majority of this consumption outside of traditional broadcast channels, requiring new ways of engaging with fans, including through streaming.

The combined business will provide Two Circles with market-leading remote live production capabilities, a popular streaming platform and relationships with over 500 broadcasters globally, to provide over 950 rights holders and rights owners with unparallelled global scale in managing fan relationships.

This exciting development comes after recent news that Two Circles has substantially expanded its footprint in North America through the acquisition of KORE, a market-leading intelligence platform for fans and partnerships, further fuelling the company’s growth ambitions.

Two Circles already expanded its content capabilities and reach in North America in March with the acquisition of content production agency Let It Fly Media, and these two additional acquisitions will see Two Circles grow to around 1,000 teammates across 12 offices. This includes a greater presence across Europe including the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, where it recently launched a new Cologne office.

Gareth Balch, Co-Founder and CEO of Two Circles said, “It’s with great excitement that I can share that Spring Media will become part of Two Circles. We’ve been industry friends and collaborators for years, so it is a delight to soon be teammates. The team is amazing and has been anticipating the future of media rights for years. The combination of media rights sales with remote production and streaming optionality will be crucial in navigating the next era of media rights monetisation, especially when fuelled by the ability to grow audiences! We can’t wait for all that comes next.”

Tobias Osmund, CEO, Spring Media Group said, “Gareth and the Two Circles team have an incredible track record in converting audience growth to revenue growth and doing so with values that align with ours. By combining our businesses, we will give our existing clients access to even more market-leading technology and a team with an unparalleled understanding of both fans and the industry. In turn, we will be able to support Two Circles’ existing partners with an innovative approach to media rights management, streaming, and production.”

The Spring Media Group leadership will all continue in executive roles at Two Circles, with Tobias Osmund as Group Executive Director. TwoCircles